After years of searching, this underwater explorer made world headlines with his discovery of the first fully verified pirate shipwreck.

Barry Clifford

After years of searching, underwater explorer Barry Clifford and our project team made world headlines with the discovery of the pirate ship Whydah.
Wrecked in a storm off Cape Cod in 1717, the Whydah is the only pirate shipwreck ever found, and her treasures are still being archaeologically recovered. With the discovery of over two hundred thousand artifacts - including sixty cannon, over ten thousand coins, 400 pieces of Akan gold jewelry, and much more - our project has completely revised the world's understanding of pirates.
Recent site-testing reveals that thousands of concretions and other artifacts still remain on the wreck site - an unprecedented cross-cultural collection of treasures from over fifty ships captured by pirates under command of "Black Sam" Bellamy.
Barry Clifford has always emphasized the educational value of project discoveries. In 1996, he established Expedition Whydah Sea-Lab & Learning Center at The Whydah Pirate Museum Provincetown, MA. This museum has become a unique showcase for what underwater exploration can accomplish through painstaking historical and scientific research.
In 2007, a selection of artifacts from the Whydah collection began a major nation-wide traveling exhibition, entitled "REAL PIRATES", under the sponsorship of The National Geographic Society. This block-buster exhibit enjoys rave reviews and extraordinary popularity among all ages.